Traditionally, the ultimate goal of marketing has been to create campaigns that convince consumers to buy products—both over the short and long term. However in recent years, there's been a more modified, burgeoning aim for marketers that's fueling several of today's most notable, modern campaigns: having a purpose. Although the end goal remains to get people to buy—hopefully several times over—some marketers today are called to an even higher objective. Many customers today expect companies to create value systems that they can emotionally connect with and then support on social media, through word of mouth, and—of course—with their dollars.

“Purpose marketing is about getting under the hood of a company and making sure [the brand] is doing good deeds for the world,” says Kate Watts, managing director in D.C. for digital agency Huge. “Purpose marketing …revolves around who you are as a company [and] what your values are, examines how you treat employees, determines what's your internal mind-set, and establishes how you create a product.”

Each of these elements, Watts says, is a facet that can encourage—or discourage—consumers from buying. Today, purpose marketing—also referred to as social marketing and conscious capitalism—is a method that brand marketers use to woo potential customers by convincing them that the company is indeed socially responsible and in tune with community needs.

“What brands used to do was partner with a charity or create an internal initiative. But that's now shifted,” Watts says, adding that today there are a growing number of conscious consumers whose buying decisions are determined by what a company stands for. In other words, consumers want authenticity, not just charity. “Really, [brands] have to create a company based on their own values,” Watts says. “Consumers will then feel that.”

Authenticity, transparency, and ethics help shoppers understand the soul of a brand; and with the continual proliferation of social media and others digital tools, customers can hold them accountable. “Consumers gain more control, and they gain more confidence,” Watts says. “[Purpose marketing] helps open up more of a dialogue. It allows consumers to have information, and [as a result] have more control of their decision making. So much so that shoppers can advocate a brand—or boycott it—if they do or don't agree with a company's practices.”

As a growing number of marketers implement more meaningful campaigns, consumers gain a personal voice and bolster their own identities. “People want to align with brands that also reflect their personal [views and] personalities,” Watts says. “[Consumers] want to make a statement. If they're posting a brand on Facebook, they want their friends to know that they're socially conscious or aware; it helps their own personal brands.”